So What: Local News, Notes & Links

Here's the latest wrap-up of assorted links and short local news items of interest:

* NPR last Friday had a feature on a newly released, previously unheard live recording of Grant Green (pictured) made here in the guitarist's home town of St. Louis.

* Tonight's performance by the electronic music duo Caboladies, presented by New Music Circle at the White Flag Projects gallery, is previewed by Terry Perkins for the St. Louis Beacon. Meanwhile, NMC's program coordinator Jeremy Kannapell was interviewed about the organization's plans for the remainder of the 2012-13 season by the Riverfront Times' Josh Levi.

* Metrobones have posted to their Facebook page an album of photos from the group's concert last Friday at The Pageant with the Webster Groves High School jazz bands and guest soloist, trombonist Michael Dease.

* Bassist Reid Anderson of The Bad Plus, who are playing through Saturday at Jazz at the Bistro, submitted to a Q&A with the Riverfront Times' Jessica Lussenhop that, alas, ends up mostly rehashing old info about the trio while ignoring their most recent work. On the other hand, for some Bad Plus-related content that at least has the virtue of being current, there's this review of one of their sets Wednesday night at the Bistro by KDHX's Wil Wander.

* The St. Louis Low Brass Collective's board secretary and bass trombonist Andy Schiefelbein talked with the Post-Dispatch's Sarah Bryan Miller for a brief article about the LBC's annual performance next Tuesday at the Sheldon

* The Route 66 Jazz Orchestra sends word that their director Bob Boedges has been named to the Missouri Music Educators Association Hall of Fame. Boedges will be inducted in a ceremony during MMEA's annual conference later this month held at Tan-Tar-A Resort at the Lake of the Ozarks.

* Lastly, congratulations to pianist Carolbeth True, who's being honored as Citizen of the Year for 2013 by the city of Rock Hill.

Jazz this week: Michael Dease with WGHS Jazz Bands, Javier Mendoza's Latin Jazz Experiment, Montez Coleman, Mary Dyson, Joe Mancuso, and more

The first part of January typically is time off for a lot of touring musicians who'd just as soon stay home as deal with bad weather, audiences suffering from empty pockets or the post-holiday blahs, and so on.

So even though the weather in St. Louis actually has been pretty nice for this time of year, it's no surprise that most of this week's jazz and creative music highlights are once again local in origin.

Tonight, the jazz/funk/R&B combo Good 4 The Soul returns to BB's Jazz, Blues and Soups for an early evening show.

Tomorrow night, singer/songwriter Javier Mendoza once again will activate his Latin Jazz Experiment for the first of two evenings at Jazz at the Bistro. The performances will showcase Mendoza's original songs with an expanded version of his band featuring additional guitar from Dave Black, horn arrangements from saxophonist Jim Stevens and trumpeter Rob Endicott, and extra percussion (usually from R. Scott Bryan).

Also on Friday, trombonist Michael Dease will be in town to perform as guest soloist with the Webster Groves High School jazz bands in their annual concert at The Pageant. Dease is a Juilliard graduate who's played with numerous big bands, including those led by Illinois Jacquet, Dizzy Gillespie, Christian McBride, Roy Hargrove, Nicholas Payton, Jimmy Heath and Charles Tolliver, as well as with small groups led by Claudio Roditi, Sharel Cassity, and Wycliffe Gordon. Metrobones, the ensemble led by Dave Dickey that features more than a dozen student trombonists from local high schools and colleges, will round out the bill.

And if that weren't enough for one night, Friday also will find drummer Montez Coleman's trio with guitarist Eric Slaughter and bassist Chris Thomas at Cigar Inn; bassist Willem von Hombracht with singer Hannah McDonald and pianist Mike Carosello at Robbie's House of Jazz; and the St. Louis Big Band at the Casa Loma Ballroom

On Saturday, the eclectic south side venue Rue Lafayette reopens after a short winter break with a brunchtime performance from swing band the Sidemen.

On Saturday night, singer Mary Dyson and and keyboardist Brock Walker team up for a performance at Robbie's; and Sarah Jane and the Blue Notes will play swing, jump blues and more at the Venice Cafe.

Update: 10:30 a.m., 1/12/13: Mary Dyson has announced by email and on Facebook that tonight's performance at Robbie's House of Jazz is cancelled. 4:15 p.m.: Guitarist Eric Slaughter and Tom Byrne have been booked for a duo performance in Dyson's place.

Looking beyond the weekend, on Monday, the jazz fusion band Steizuello will be at at BB's Jazz Blues and Soups.

Then on Tuesday, singer Joe Mancuso will do a "Notes From Home" concert at The Sheldon, performing standards from the Great American Songbook with an expanded band including special guest trumpeter Randy Holmes and saxophonist Willie Akins.

For more jazz-related events in and around St. Louis, please visit the St. Louis Jazz Notes Calendar, which can be found on the left sidebar of the site or by clicking here. You also can keep up with all the latest news by following St. Louis Jazz Notes on Twitter at http://twitter.com/StLJazzNotes or clicking the "Like" icon on the StLJN Facebook page.

(If you have calendar items, band schedule information, news tips, links, or anything else you think may be of interest to StLJN's readers, please email the information to stljazznotes (at) yahoo (dot) com. If you have photos, MP3s or other digital files, please send links, not attachments.)

Webster Groves HS jazz bands to perform Christmas show on December 12, at The Pageant on January 11

The Webster Groves High School jazz bands have announced two upcoming public concerts.

Getting in the holiday spirit, WGHS' Jazz I big band will perform Stan Kenton's 1961 album A Merry Christmas in its entirety at 7:00 p.m. this Wednesday, December 12 at Webster Groves Presbyterian Church, 45 W. Lockwood Ave. The concert is free and open to the public, but donations will be accepted.

The Jazz I big band and other WGHS jazz ensembles also will be featured in the program's annual concert at The Pageant, which will take place at 7:00 p.m. Friday, January 11. The WGHS bands will be joined by MetroBones, the all-star student trombone ensemble directed by Dave Dickey, and bands from Hixson Middle School.

Trombonist and jazz educator Michael Dease (pictured), who's played with the big bands of Dizzy Gillespie, Christian McBride, Roy Hargrove, Nicholas Payton, Jimmy Heath, Charles Tolliver and others and teaches at Michigan State University, will be the concert's guest artist. Tickets are $20 at the door.

WGHS director of bands Kevin Cole also reports that four members of the Jazz I ensemble made it into this year's Missouri All-State jazz band, with 3 more recognized as alternates.

So What: Local News, Notes & Links

Here's the latest wrap-up of assorted links and short local news items of interest:

* Trumpeter Christian Scott spoke with the Post-Dispatch's Calvin Wilson for a short article in yesterday's paper. Scott continues at Jazz at the Bistro through tomorrow night.

* While they're in town getting ready to perform Saturday night with the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra, Wynton Marsalis and the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra also are spending some time mentoring young musicians from East St. Louis High School. The St. Louis American's Kenya Vaughn has the story here.

* Back over at the P-D, book editor Jane Henderson writes briefly about Miles Davis: The Complete Illustrated History (pictured), a new book due out November 17 from Voyageur Press.

* The Sheldon Concert Hall has posted on their Facebook page a set of photos from last week's 100th anniversary gala.

* The Route 66 Jazz Orchestra is the new name of the group formerly known as the Meramec Jazz Band, and they've posted to their Facebook page a set of photos from Wednesday's gig at Sky Music Lounge in West County.

* And in one more Facebook photoset, the 2012-13 lineup of the trombone-centric student group Metrobones is captured for posterity here.

* A recent performance of music and poetry by saxophonist Oliver Lake in Pittsburgh is reviewed here.

Second annual U City Jazz Festival to be held Saturday, September 22

The second annual U City Jazz Festival will take place from 12:00 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. on Saturday, September 22 in Heman Park in University City. Festival organizer Michael Silverman announced the date in a Facebook post yesterday, and also revealed the list of musicians who will play the event this year.

The musical lineup for 2012 will include the STL Metrobones; trumpeter and singer Dawn Weber; a reunion concert featuring pianist Ptah Williams and his 1980s jazz-fusion group Tracer; Bach to the Future; a tribute to Miles Davis with drummer Maurice Carnes' Hipjaz Quintet; and Trio Tres Bien (pictured).

The event is free and open to the public.

(Edited 6/6/12 to fix a broken link and add tags.)